Heavy losses: "Putin's cook" is looking for new Russian soldiers in prisons
Created: 08/08/2022 11:38 am
By: Tobias Utz
Due to heavy losses, the Russian army is missing soldiers.
"Putin's cook" is therefore apparently looking for new fighters in prisons.
MOSCOW - Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close confidante of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has apparently been spotted in several prisons.
It is said to have been primarily a penal camp.
According to a media report, the aim was to hire new fighters for the “Wagner” mercenary group.
This is reported by the independent media project
Mediazona
, which was founded by activists from the group "Pussy Riot", among others.
Several prisoners from Russia's Tula and Yaroslavl regions told the media project that a short, bald man paid a visit: He is said to be Yevgeny Prigozhin, also known as "Putin's cook".
In the prisons he is said to have offered the prisoners freedom and payment in gold if they fought for Russia in Ukraine.
“My people go to African countries and leave nothing alive within two days.
And now they're doing the same thing to their enemies in Ukraine," Putin's confidante is said to have said in front of the prisoners.
News about the Ukraine war: Russia is looking for new soldiers
Prigozhin promised those who accepted the offer around 100,000 rubles a month – the equivalent of around 1,620 euros – plus a bonus of the same amount.
In the event of a "dignified" death, the fighter's family would receive five million rubles, around 80,000 euros.
A fighter pilot from the Russian army, who was also hired by the “Wagner” group, had reported something similar.
Russia sent criminals from domestic prisons to Ukraine some time ago.
According to the report, the "Wagner Group" is particularly interested in "murderers and robbers" for their projects.
The mercenary force was already involved in battles in numerous countries before the Ukraine war, including Mali and Syria.
Russia is apparently looking for new mercenaries for the army.
(Archive photo) © Alexey Maishev / Imago Images
The British Ministry of Defense also confirmed the recruitment campaigns mentioned by the “Wagner” group several weeks ago.
In doing so, the troops primarily rely on previously rejected applicants and convicted criminals, according to the situation report.
These are hardly or badly trained militarily.
The ministry therefore suspected that the recruited soldiers should primarily compensate for heavy losses and fill gaps.
They have already been used in battles for the cities of Lysychansk and Popasna (both in Luhansk Oblast).
None of the above information can be independently verified.
Most of them come from warring factions in the Ukraine conflict.
News on the Ukraine war: Yevgeny Prigozhin known as "Putin's cook".
However, Yevgeny Prigozhin is not a blank slate: Prigozhin was imprisoned in the Soviet Union for several years for robbery, fraud and prostitution of minors.
Only later did he become an entrepreneur, head of a notorious troll factory and supporter of the mercenary group "Wagner".
He also entertained high state guests and the President and became a kind of commissary for the Russian army.
Hence the nickname “Putin's cook” mentioned at the beginning.
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Yevgeny Prigozhin, photographed in Moscow in March 2017.
(Archive photo) © imago stock & people / Imago Images
(do with dpa/AFP)
